The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(12-17-2017 03:30 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  I was listening to the UVA game on the radio yesterday as I was out driving around. At the post-game presser, one of the reporters asked him, "Why didn't you play so-and-so more?" His response was simple. "We won the game. That's the goal. Looks like I played the right players to do that today."

Not saying that you should never second guess a coach in a win, and I'm totally on board the "Wanna see more Hueitt" train. But, unless you're going to show up to the breakfast and ask Jones, I'm not sure you're going to get an answer.

It's not like they just beat Duke or William & Mary.

How exactly are you on the "Wanna see more Hueitt train" if you can't see questioning it today? So if they had lost by 1 in regulation, THEN you could question it? In the sports world that is referred to as Monday morning quarterbacking.

(12-17-2017 03:45 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  The other thing about the freshmen that I was thinking about listening to the UVA game yesterday was that Devon Hall might be UVA's most consistent player. He has been REALLY good for them this year. If you go back to his freshman year (after he had already sat for one year redshirting), he really struggled to find playing time. He didn't play a single minute in 6 of their last 10 games that year. He was frustrated. But, he stuck with it and now it's paying off for him (and the fans who want to see him).

It's a process. Trust me, I want to see more Hueitt too, but I have to trust that Jones is playing the guys he feels he has to play to win the game at hand. Certainly, if he played the freshmen more and we were sitting at 6-5, this board wouldn't be any happier. I'll privately complain about not seeing more of the freshmen, but Jeff's job is to win games, not to make me happy.

Hard to compare different players playing on vastly different teams. Who was Hall playing behind?

Hall almost transferred to ODU when Stith did fwiw.

I know Haynes didn’t get many minutes last year, but I don’t remember him being such an adept shooter. He has hit some big shots for us at key moments, and his whole game seems to have improved dramatically. And hopefully this is the start of the break out season we expected from Caver this year. He was a beast today.

(12-17-2017 04:38 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  I know Haynes didn’t get many minutes last year, but I don’t remember him being such an adept shooter. He has hit some big shots for us at key moments, and his whole game seems to have improved dramatically. And hopefully this is the start of the break out season we expected from Caver this year. He was a beast today.

Caver had a big game, and Randy came on strong late in the game. I believe he had 7 consecutive points when the game was still close during the overtime period.

(12-17-2017 04:38 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  I know Haynes didn’t get many minutes last year, but I don’t remember him being such an adept shooter. He has hit some big shots for us at key moments, and his whole game seems to have improved dramatically. And hopefully this is the start of the break out season we expected from Caver this year. He was a beast today.

I mean, he was 6-17 overall and 2-8 from 3. Id love for him to prove me wrong, but adept shooter might be a work in progress.

He did make some big plays in a crucial spot though.

Randy was in cruise control till late in the game. He thought Caver had it all covered, then decided to end this thing.

(12-17-2017 04:26 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 03:45 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  The other thing about the freshmen that I was thinking about listening to the UVA game yesterday was that Devon Hall might be UVA's most consistent player. He has been REALLY good for them this year. If you go back to his freshman year (after he had already sat for one year redshirting), he really struggled to find playing time. He didn't play a single minute in 6 of their last 10 games that year. He was frustrated. But, he stuck with it and now it's paying off for him (and the fans who want to see him).

It's a process. Trust me, I want to see more Hueitt too, but I have to trust that Jones is playing the guys he feels he has to play to win the game at hand. Certainly, if he played the freshmen more and we were sitting at 6-5, this board wouldn't be any happier. I'll privately complain about not seeing more of the freshmen, but Jeff's job is to win games, not to make me happy.

Hard to compare different players playing on vastly different teams. Who was Hall playing behind?

It’s also relative to a player’s skill. Hall was the best player on a nationally ranked high school team. He was recruited to play in the ACC. Hueitt was recruited to play in CUSA. It IS hard to compare different players on different teams, but the principles are the same. It’s hard for freshmen to get PT on rosters full of experienced players. It was hard for Hall. Right now it’s hard for Hueitt and Godwin.

(12-17-2017 04:22 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 03:30 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  I was listening to the UVA game on the radio yesterday as I was out driving around. At the post-game presser, one of the reporters asked him, "Why didn't you play so-and-so more?" His response was simple. "We won the game. That's the goal. Looks like I played the right players to do that today."

Not saying that you should never second guess a coach in a win, and I'm totally on board the "Wanna see more Hueitt" train. But, unless you're going to show up to the breakfast and ask Jones, I'm not sure you're going to get an answer.

It's not like they just beat Duke or William & Mary.

How exactly are you on the "Wanna see more Hueitt train" if you can't see questioning it today? So if they had lost by 1 in regulation, THEN you could question it? In the sports world that is referred to as Monday morning quarterbacking.

My point is that while I might be questioning it, Jeff and the coaches see these guys play every single day in practice. We’ve seen a total of 45 minutes from Hueitt. I’ll have to defer to them in decisions on playing time right now.

(12-17-2017 04:48 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 04:38 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  I know Haynes didn’t get many minutes last year, but I don’t remember him being such an adept shooter. He has hit some big shots for us at key moments, and his whole game seems to have improved dramatically. And hopefully this is the start of the break out season we expected from Caver this year. He was a beast today.

I mean, he was 6-17 overall and 2-8 from 3. Id love for him to prove me wrong, but adept shooter might be a work in progress.

He did make some big plays in a crucial spot though.

He has a step back/fade away three that is impressive. He lit up Dayton with it, and the three in OT today was HUGE. He also can attack the rim at key points in the game (Towson game), and regularly has pick pocket steals. What I appreciate about Haynes is that he thinks he is great - so he wants the ball at key times in the game. There were points last year when the game was on the line and you could tell no one wanted the ball.

(12-17-2017 05:10 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 04:48 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 04:38 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  I know Haynes didn’t get many minutes last year, but I don’t remember him being such an adept shooter. He has hit some big shots for us at key moments, and his whole game seems to have improved dramatically. And hopefully this is the start of the break out season we expected from Caver this year. He was a beast today.

I mean, he was 6-17 overall and 2-8 from 3. Id love for him to prove me wrong, but adept shooter might be a work in progress.

He did make some big plays in a crucial spot though.

He has a step back/fade away three that is impressive. He lit up Dayton with it, and the three in OT today was HUGE. He also can attack the rim at key points in the game (Towson game), and regularly has pick pocket steals. What I appreciate about Haynes is that he thinks he is great - so he wants the ball at key times in the game. There were points last year when the game was on the line and you could tell no one wanted the ball.

With that said, he loses his man or gets out of position every now and then - which I’m sure drives Jones crazy.

Well, yes, i would rather a guy not br scared. I just want him to take good shots (mostly has) and make them (has at some points).

(12-17-2017 05:17 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Well, yes, i would rather a guy not br scared. I just want him to take good shots (mostly has) and make them (has at some points).

Agreed - he needs work, but he made the key shot that won the Towson game. Which is shaping up to be our best win to date. I just wish he could have caught fire in the last ten mins of the VCU game. That is the game I care the most about every year...followed by Middle, UAB, WKY, & La Tech. But it took me a few days to get over the VCU game. Today felt similar to the VCU game. Up by nine with the ball, and we turn it over and then foul on a three point shot - which set in motion their comeback. We need to learn how to close out teams with ten mins left in the game.

(12-17-2017 05:31 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 05:17 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Well, yes, i would rather a guy not br scared. I just want him to take good shots (mostly has) and make them (has at some points).

Agreed - he needs work, but he made the key shot that won the Towson game. Which is shaping up to be our best win to date. I just wish he could have caught fire in the last ten mins of the VCU game. That is the game I care the most about every year...followed by Middle, UAB, WKY, & La Tech. But it took me a few days to get over the VCU game. Today felt similar to the VCU game. Up by nine with the ball, and we turn it over and then foul on a three point shot - which set in motion their comeback. We need to learn how to close out teams with ten mins left in the game.

As I’m sure you know, a game is not always about stats. It’s about the key plays at the key point in the game. Michael Westbrook proved that Friday night against the Sixers. And I’m definitely not suggesting Haynes is Westbrook:)

That technical called on Fairfield was the first time I've ever seen that one called. I'm not saying we got the reverse-homejob, since they did get twice as many free throws. Just a strange call.

For anyone not named Caver, his was a poor shooting effort for most of the game. Other players stepped up at the end, especially Haynes. But we really struggled against their zone. The key in OT was we were able to get some turnovers and turn them into fast breaks. If they were able to set up their zone each time this game might have had a different outcome. I'm proud of the guys for turning something that was a weakness last year into something that can win games like this for us. And we avoided another W&M by hitting free throws. The few we had anyway.

It seemed like during one of the breaks they took a point off the board after the bench technical that BJ made. Was that the point they removed? Did they remove it because they changed their mind on the technical? I admit that it is unusual to call a technical for coming out of the timeout late unless they gave a warning first. But to change their mind and remove the point minutes later seems very unusual. Obviously we could have used that point at the end of regulation.

(12-17-2017 05:05 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 04:22 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(12-17-2017 03:30 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  I was listening to the UVA game on the radio yesterday as I was out driving around. At the post-game presser, one of the reporters asked him, "Why didn't you play so-and-so more?" His response was simple. "We won the game. That's the goal. Looks like I played the right players to do that today."

Not saying that you should never second guess a coach in a win, and I'm totally on board the "Wanna see more Hueitt" train. But, unless you're going to show up to the breakfast and ask Jones, I'm not sure you're going to get an answer.

It's not like they just beat Duke or William & Mary.

How exactly are you on the "Wanna see more Hueitt train" if you can't see questioning it today? So if they had lost by 1 in regulation, THEN you could question it? In the sports world that is referred to as Monday morning quarterbacking.

My point is that while I might be questioning it, Jeff and the coaches see these guys play every single day in practice. We’ve seen a total of 45 minutes from Hueitt. I’ll have to defer to them in decisions on playing time right now.

Unless you (or any of us) actually are a coach on the ODU men's basketball team then of course we all have to defer to them in their decisions on playing time. Same thing holds true for what the starting line up is, what defense they play, who they recruit, the out of conference schedule they make each year, whether or not the practices will be open or closed, etc.

Me (or you, or anyone else) questioning something on a message board doesn't change any of that, nor does it make it wrong or a bad thing to do so. It is all a part of what fan forums are about. Some people think everything has to be kumbaya after every win or there is something wrong. To them, nothing should ever be questioned unless they just lost, and even then they sometimes nearly faint over it if something is questioned.

For the record, I've been a very big fan of and close follower of ODU basketball for right around 50 years now. Even made my own set of Columbia Blue Blocks to use at the old Field House. None of that changed when Jones came on board, and he isn't the first coach during all of that time that I have questioned something regarding the team (and probably won't be the last).

(12-17-2017 05:47 PM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  For anyone not named Caver, his was a poor shooting effort for most of the game. Other players stepped up at the end, especially Haynes. But we really struggled against their zone. The key in OT was we were able to get some turnovers and turn them into fast breaks. If they were able to set up their zone each time this game might have had a different outcome. I'm proud of the guys for turning something that was a weakness last year into something that can win games like this for us. And we avoided another W&M by hitting free throws. The few we had anyway.

It seemed like during one of the breaks they took a point off the board after the bench technical that BJ made. Was that the point they removed? Did they remove it because they changed their mind on the technical? I admit that it is unusual to call a technical for coming out of the timeout late unless they gave a warning first. But to change their mind and remove the point minutes later seems very unusual. Obviously we could have used that point at the end of regulation.

I don't know for sure but I suspect the point was removed from a 3 being incorrectly put up instead of a 2.

(12-17-2017 05:46 PM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  That technical called on Fairfield was the first time I've ever seen that one called. I'm not saying we got the reverse-homejob, since they did get twice as many free throws. Just a strange call.

I thought the call was strange too as I don't remember seeing that one before either. I was aware of the potential for a technical call for that but with the refs warning the teams after the first horn, you just don't see it.

I've seen a tech with too many players coming out of a time out. It must have been something else, or the ref was a football fan and wanted to catch a game.